Email Security in Office 365 – Munio – Technologist

Maximising Email Security in Office 365: Unlocking the Power of Safe Links and Safe Senders

Safe Links and Safe Senders are integral components of Microsoft Office 365’s security framework, designed to enhance email safety and protect users from cyber threats like phishing attacks, malware, and spam.

Safe Links

What are Safe Links? Safe Links is a feature within Microsoft Defender for Office 365 that provides time-of-click verification of URLs (web addresses) in email messages and Office documents. The primary goal is to protect users from malicious links that could lead to phishing sites or malware downloads.

How Safe Links Work:

1. URL Scanning and Rewriting: When an email is received, Safe Links scans and rewrites URLs in the email body. The rewritten URLs point to Microsoft’s secure servers.
2. Time-of-Click Verification: When a user clicks on a link, Microsoft’s server checks the URL in real-time against a database of known malicious websites. This verification happens every time the link is clicked, ensuring protection even if the URL was safe at the time of the email’s arrival but later compromised.
3. User Notification: If the link is found to be malicious, the user is redirected to a warning page instead of the harmful site, thus preventing potential security threats.

Safe Senders

What are Safe Senders? The Safe Senders feature allows users to specify email addresses or domains from which they want to receive emails, ensuring these messages bypass the junk email filter. This is particularly useful for ensuring that emails from trusted sources are not accidentally marked as spam.

How Safe Senders Work:

1. Whitelisting: Users can add email addresses or domains to their Safe Senders list. Emails from these sources will then be delivered directly to the user’s inbox, skipping over spam filtering checks that might otherwise flag them as junk.
2. User Control: Users have direct control over their Safe Senders list, allowing them to manage which contacts are considered trusted. This reduces the chance of missing important emails due to overly aggressive spam filtering.

Benefits of Safe Links and Safe Senders

• Enhanced Security: Safe Links provides an additional layer of security by protecting users from malicious websites, while Safe Senders ensures legitimate emails are not missed.
• Real-Time Protection: Safe Links checks the safety of links at the time of click, offering protection against newly compromised sites.
• User Empowerment: Both features give users greater control over their email security and deliverability, allowing for a more personalised and secure email experience.
• Reduced Risk of Phishing and Malware: By verifying links and allowing emails only from trusted sources, the risk of falling victim to phishing attacks and malware infections is significantly reduced.

Talk to us about how we can help secure your O365 environment with Safe Links and Safe Senders to protect against cyber threats. Lock down your Email Security in Office 365.

Tel: 01795 383 383 (South East) | Tel: 0208 070 0070 (London) | hello@munio-it.co.uk